Addthis

NEW Report “Bad Bartlett: The Josiah Bartlett Center and NH Watchdog Answer the Call of the Koch Brothers”

Posted by on Thu, 2013-12-12 12:20

Granite State Progress and the Center for Media and Democracy are proud to formally release the report “Bad Bartlett: The Josiah Bartlett Center and NH Watchdog Answer the Call of the Koch Brothers” that details how ALEC and right wing funders use front groups to manufacture the news and influence public policy in New Hampshire.

The expose reveals that state-based Josiah Bartlett Center and the New Hampshire Watchdog are not independent and unbiased as they claim. Key findings include:

The Josiah Bartlett Center is a member of the State Policy Network and the NH Watchdog – embedded at the Josiah Bartlett Center – is run by the far-right Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Both networks have close ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Koch brothers, and the Heritage Foundation among others.

Staff of both organizations lobby on legislation at the state level – spending time producing reports, creating statistics, talking points, "expert" testimony, videos, and a raft of other materials – yet refuse to file as lobbyists or disclose their ties. Former NH Watchdog staffer Grant Bosse even testified on legislation before a committee as a ‘reporter’ speaking on his own behalf.

The legislative agenda of the Josiah Bartlett Center and NH Watchdog align closely with other Koch-funded groups such as Americans for Prosperity and ALEC, and the organizations play a specific role in the overall strategy for advancing these objectives.

Josiah Bartlett Center and NH Watchdog have received direct funding from the Koch family fortune despite their claims otherwise.